25 FANTASTIC Energy Saving Tips

I recently ran a giveaway in conjunction with EON and a compulsory entry mechanism was to provide your best energy saving tip. There were lots of obvious ones which I hope everyone is already putting in place (they are first on the list) however there were more that I believe need sharing and I have collated the best twenty-five here. If you would like to add your favourite please share it in the comments.

Unplug all electrical items when not in use, especially overnight (but not your fridge and freezer, obviously).

Turn the thermostat down by one degree and add a layer of clothes instead of putting the heating on.

Turn lights off when you leave the room and use energy saving bulbs.

Shut doors to keep the heat in a room.

Put tin foil behind radiators to reflect the heat back into the room (and if your radiator is under a window, tuck long curtains behind the radiator for a similar effect).

Anything that can be charged via USB can be done when you are using the PC or laptop.

Use a glass of water when brushing your teeth instead of leaving the tap running.

Keep a jug of tap water in the fridge. That way, you won’t have to run the tap for a long time just to get a cold drink.

Put lids on saucepans when cooking. The water boils quicker and uses less energy.

Use a vegetable steamer instead of cooking with lots of saucepans. The veggies taste a lot nicer too.

When you turn your oven on, cook lots of things at the same time, e.g. cakes and meals. It only takes a few minutes to warm a meal but a long time each day to cook one.

Turn your oven or electric hop off a few minutes before you need to as there will still be some residual heat to carry on cooking your food.

Leave the oven door open to heat the room after using it.

If your freezer isn't full, plug the gaps with loaves of bread or polystyrene.

Put waste food and vegetable peelings in a composter and feed the birds in your garden with leftover cooked food.

Get a water butt to collect rain water and use this to water your plants and home-growns. Rain water is actually better than from the tap as it has no additives.

Make sure you have good loft insulation to prevent losing heat through the roof.

See if you are eligible for a government/council grant for extra insulation.

Collect up all the old woolly jumpers, towels and so on that you would normally throw away. Unscrew the side of your bath and pack the old clothes around the tub and replace the bath side. Now your water will stay hot for longer and you won't need to keep adding expensive top-ups! Just check it after the first use to make sure the clothes are still dry and you have no leaks.